Eat your food
Hurry take a bite
Eat your food
Things will be alright

Spoon to lip
Don't hesitate
Swallow quick
Before you ache

Darling don't you quit
Get out this rut
Your bones need it
So does your gut

That's all I hear
For that's all they say
That awful cheer
Night and day

It's not as easy
As they so claim
To rid myself
Of awful shame

So I will smile
And I will lie
And for awhile
I'll be alright

-ARI

I scratch at my rib cage
Nails clawing at my skin
As if I could scrape away
The extra weight I feel I've gained

It's like the devil's inside of me
He's disfiguring my bones
I fall to my aching knees
God make him leave me alone

Trapped inside my eyes I'm  screaming
The numbers on my scale are screeching
Their maniacal laughter devours my dreams
Someone save me I'm afraid to sleep


-ARI

If I took your hand
And wrapped your arm around my waist,
Would you pull me close
Or push me away?

If I smiled at you
And asked for one dance,
Would you leave me alone
Or give me a chance?

-ARI

I listened but I heard no sound
Falling from his lips.
Instead I heard my beating heart
Wanting to meet his.

I loved how his hands would follow
When his mouth would move.
For a busy mind like mine
His tender voice did soothe.

-ARI

The sound of her breathing
Had faded away
As did the sound
Of her weary heart beating

Eyelids laid heavy
Against lifeless cheeks
So many mouths around her
Not one dared to speak

Her hands felt foreign
Too cold; too blue
Daddy softly whispered
"God say it's not true"

At 16 he should be teaching
Her exactly how to drive
Grasping his seatbelt
Praying for dear life

Instead he's left staring
At her name carved in stone
It's proof that his precious girl
Is never coming home

So he cries upon the earth
Where his daughter lies
Swallowed by the pain a parent
Feels when their child dies

He cries for all the years
She will never live
For all the tender love
She will never know or give

He cries for all the memories
She will never get to make
For her picture on his nightstand
His heart a constant ache

He cries for his little girl
Who will never have the chance to be
The beautiful young lady
Who turned 17.

-ARI

Small little shirt boxed away,
Not a stain to be seen.

Small little pants boxed away,
Not a hole to be found.

Small little shoes boxed away,
Not a flaw to be seen.

Small little child boxed away,
Forever in the ground.

-ARI

Bald head
Brave smile
Tired limbs
Shaken soul
Hopeful heart
Aching body
Weary eyes
Quiet home

Color fading
Heat escaping
Vacant eyes
Heavy bones
Lifeless body
Broken hearts
Blue lips
Heavy stone

-ARI